Sports Briefs

COLLEGE SOFTBALL: Zilnicki earns national honor Senior center fielder Jackie Zilnicki of Western Connecticut State has been named the Louisville Slugger Division III National Player of the Week for games played March 26 to April 1. The Riverhead native helped the Colonials complete a sweep of Westfield State with a 2-for-3 performance from the plate with a pair of runs batted in. Later in the week, Zilnicki went 2 for 3 with two runs scored, a triple, and two RBI against Manhattanville.

Zilnicki recorded multiple hits in each of her four games this past week to register a .750 batting average (9 for 12) with six runs scored and four RBI. She is batting .595 for the season and leads Western Connecticut in RBI with 16. She is also 7 of 9 in stolen bases and perfect in the field. The Colonials (13-3) are ranked No. 16 in the latest Division III top 25 poll.

COLLEGE BASEBALL: Big week for Rauseo Oswego State freshman outfielder Yianni Rauseo of Mattituck was named the SUNYAC player of the week. He had a big week at the plate for the Lakers, posting a .667 batting average and a 1.000 slugging percentage. In an 11-3 win over Utica, Rauseo went 3 for 3, driving in six runs and scoring three. In a win against Oneonta State in the first game of a doubleheader, Rauseo had a hand in four of Oswego’s six runs with two runs scored and two runs batted in, including the eventual game-winning RBI in the top of the seventh. In the second game, he went 4 for 5 to finish the day 7 for 8 in the doubleheader. Rauseo gave the Lakers a chance in the top of the ninth to tie the score when he led off the inning with a single.

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Former Mattituck High School player Brian Tardif picked up the win on Monday for C.W. Post in a thrilling 11-10 win over conference rival St.Thomas Aquinas. C.W. Post had trailed by 10-0. Tardif, a junior left-hander, came in to close the eighth and ninth innings. He struck out three, allowing no runs and no hits.